1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to golf club heads.
2. Description of Related Art
As is well known, a golf club generally consists of a shaft and a golf club head attached to the bottom of the shaft. Because of the ever gaining popularity of the sport, there exists a very competitive market for golf clubs which include technical innovations that increase distance, accuracy, or both, and which provide a better sound or feel upon striking the golf ball. A number of these innovations have found their way into the golf club head, per se, which generally comprises a hosel adapted for connection to a shaft, and a head body connected to the hosel wherein the head body has a front hitting face and a back face that are collectively encompassed by a top rail, a heel located near the hosel, a sole, and a toe located away from the hosel.
One particularly well known innovation with respect to golf club heads was the development of perimeter weighting, wherein a central cavity is formed in the back face of the golf club head which results in a larger percentage of the head's mass being present in the head's perimeter. The perimeter weighting widens the "sweet spot" on the golf club head's front hitting face so that the golf club is more tolerant to off-angle strokes. A less experienced golfer, in other words, is more likely to have a shot which deviates less than usual from the arc of the stroke when the golfer has the head "open" or "closed" relative to the ideal.
Notwithstanding the significant innovation of perimeter weighting, there still exists a significant need to provide a golf club head which is more tolerant to a golfer's inadvertent misplacement of the front hitting surface upon contact with the ball.
Another problem with the prior art golf clubs and associated golf club heads is the transmission of the shock of impact from the golf club head to the shaft and ultimately to the golfer. This phenomena of shock and transmission is most prevalent in the so-called "irons" because there is generally direct metal to metal transmissions from the front hitting face to the hosel which attaches to the shaft. The result of shock transmission to the golfer can range from an undesirable "feel" to minor pain and even to short or long term injury.
A number of golf club manufacturers have developed golf clubs that attempt to reduce the transmission of vibration up the shaft of the golf club. A manufacturer of golf club shafts called Tru-Temper, for example, has placed a polymer or sponge-like material in the shaft. This particular product, known as the SENSICORE.TM., is helpful, but suffers from the fact that it merely attempts to dampen vibration that has already been transmitted to the shaft.
Others have attempted to dampen the vibrations within the golf club head itself. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,552 entitled "GOLF CLUB HEAD WITH TUNING AND VIBRATION CONTROL MEANS," issued Jan. 21, 1997, the inventors disclose a golf club head wherein a plurality of spoke-like ribs are molded in a central cavity on the back face of the golf club head. According to the inventors, these ribs eliminate or tenuate undesirable vibrations.
As another example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,723 entitled "GOLF CLUB WITH CUSHION MATERIAL BETWEEN SHAFT AND HEAD," issue Nov. 19, 1996, the inventors disclose a "driver" or "wood" wherein the golf club head is a hollow cast metal shell. The inventors in the '723 patent generally disclose removing a portion of the hosel within the cast metal shell so as to expose a portion of the shaft therein and then filling the hollow metal shell with a cushioning material that is softer than the head body, such as a synthetic resin. The '723 patent discloses a cushioning material between the head body and the shaft, but is only suitable for use with a golf club head formed from a hollow metal casting, and does not disclose an arrangement which independently isolates the front hitting face from the shaft while retaining a solid connection between the golf club head and the shaft.
There remains a significant need, therefore, for a golf club head that is more accurate and more forgiving and which more efficiently dampens the transmission of shock vibrations from the front hitting face to the golf club shaft.